THREE DENUNZIOb-C-08SEP00-SZ-JLT Mike DeNunzio, candidate for SF Board of Supervisors from the Third District.
CHRONICLE PHOTO BY JERRY TELFER NORTHERN CA MANDATORY CREDIT PHOTOG AND CHRONICLE/ /MAGS OUT

THREE DENUNZIOb-C-08SEP00-SZ-JLT Mike DeNunzio, candidate for SF Board of Supervisors from the Third District.
CHRONICLE PHOTO BY JERRY TELFER NORTHERN CA MANDATORY CREDIT PHOTOG AND CHRONICLE/ /MAGS OUT

Photo: JERRY TELFER

Image 3 of 3

WAR04B-C-28JAN03-DD-CS Choreographer Krissy Keefer at Dance Mission, 3316 24th St., San Francisco works with artists who are reacting to war or the threat of war in their work. Keefer is rehearsing a new piece called Cave Women...The Next Incarnation. BY CHRIS STEWART/THE CHRONICLE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA MANDATORY CREDIT: PHOTOG AND SF CHRONICLE/ , MAGS OUT less

WAR04B-C-28JAN03-DD-CS Choreographer Krissy Keefer at Dance Mission, 3316 24th St., San Francisco works with artists who are reacting to war or the threat of war in their work. Keefer is rehearsing a new piece ... more

Since first winning her House seat in a 1987 special election, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco has breezed to re-election nine times with a whopping average of 81.66 percent of the vote.

This year, as Pelosi stands a chance of becoming the first female speaker of the House if her Democratic Party gains a net of 15 seats, she faces spirited, long-shot opposition at home in her re-election campaign.

Her Republican opponent, Mike DeNunzio, says Pelosi is a dangerous liberal, especially in a time of war, while from the left, Green Party candidate Krissy Keefer attacks her as too wishy-washy for the city's progressive electorate.

Across the country, Republicans have tried to make Pelosi an issue in their campaign to keep majority control of the House, warning conservative and swing voters that the House Democratic leader is an out-of-the-mainstream "San Francisco liberal" who is for gun control, gay rights and abortion rights, soft on national security and ready to raise taxes. So for an opponent such as Keefer to assail her as too moderate is an only-in-San Francisco phenomenon.

"Her middle-of-the-road politics is as equally maligned in this city as right-wing Republicanism," said Keefer, who operates a Mission District dance studio.

Keefer is particularly scornful of Pelosi for what she says has been her failure to lead opposition to the war in Iraq and her refusal to back calls for President Bush's impeachment, a topic that will be on the ballot in the city Nov. 7 in the form of nonbinding Proposition J.

"Our president is a criminal. This is a criminal administration that has killed thousands of people for no reason except for U.S. hegemony," Keefer said.

As for the war, she said Pelosi "has voted for every appropriation in the sentiment of supporting the troops. But they're not supporting the troops" in Congress because the war is dragging on, killing more Americans.

For Pelosi, such criticism shows the dual roles played by the leader of the House Democrats who represents her liberal San Francisco district and at the same time has to help candidates appeal to voters in moderate and conservative districts across the country while her party tries to win the majority it lost in 1994.

"Leader Pelosi has been an ardent opponent of the war in Iraq," said spokeswoman Jennifer Crider. That goes back to October 2002 when Pelosi led House opposition to the resolution authorizing Bush to invade. She persuaded 60 percent of House Democrats to join her side. "And since then she has worked to hold the president and his rubber-stamp Congress accountable," Crider added.

Pelosi has been clear that she doesn't want a Democratic-controlled House to take up impeachment of Bush. Asked at a September news conference if there would be "revenge oversight" by a Democratic House next year, she said, "We will be about the future, as we always have been."

Criticism from DeNunzio, a North Beach businessman who is also chairman of San Francisco's Republican Party, is just as pointed but comes from an "aggressive advocate for conservative principles."

"She is a voice for retreat and defeat in the war on terror and is for tax-and-spend policies," he said.

DeNunzio said he supports Bush's war policy. "I have the exact same position as the president of the United States. We have to win the war," DeNunzio added.

Pelosi as speaker would be a disaster, he said, because she isn't tough enough on fighting terrorism. "She would be representing San Francisco and San Francisco values, and not America. ... Ms. Pelosi doesn't understand that America is involved in a war, not a lawsuit," he said.

Crider dismissed the criticism and said, "As the longest-serving member of the House Intelligence Committee, Pelosi's first priority is the safety of the American people."

DeNunzio, Keefer and the fourth candidate on the ballot, Libertarian Philip Zimt Berg, have challenged Pelosi to a debate. Pelosi participated in debates when she first sought the House seat after Rep. Sala Burton died in 1987, but not since then.

"She's been there 20 years and never had a debate," said Keefer. "She needs to come home and do a debate."

The three held a news conference Thursday to press her for a debate.

Pelosi, who was campaigning and fundraising for House Democrats and others in Sacramento on Wednesday, New York City on Thursday and in Georgia and Florida today, sent them a letter.

"I am unable to accept your invitation because I will be serving my constituents, as well as traveling the country working to win a Democratic majority that will provide a new direction for America," she wrote.

Career: Operated environmental consulting firm in San Francisco until selling it in 1998.

Interesting fact: Says he formerly was a liberal Democrat.

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.